The Convention
by Hypo Prower
Summary: Shadow reluctantly agrees to attend a Sonic the Hedgehog video game convention...with mixed results. Though he gets aggravated with some of the humans, he learns things can be worth it if you bide your time and wait till the end. Oneshot.


The Publicity Event

Hypo Prower

"C'mon faker, stay for awhile! This is gonna rock!"

Sonic the Hedgehog put his gloved hand on Shadow the Hedgehog's shoulder. Shadow glared threateningly at the hand, but said nothing.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream & Cheese and Shadow were at a video game publicity event. Video gamers crowded the streets with various things for all the characters to sign. Some wore shirts with the mascots on them, and some even started to dress up like them. Food vendors sat at their stands, waiting for the citizens to get hungry.

Shadow didn't want to stay. He would much rather take care of unfinished business by himself. However, Sonic had urged him to stay at this wretched place where everyone crowded him because they wanted his autograph.

"Why don't you want to stay, Mr. Shadow?" Cream asked the black hedgehog. "Are you just afraid of people? It seems like you don't ever want to save the world with us…" Shadow jerked his head over to the chao-wielding rabbit.

""I'm no coward!" he barked. "And neither was Maria!" Shadow stormed off, leaving the heroes to themselves.

"Uh…Cream, let's go over to the ice cream booths," Amy told her friend. "We can get some ice cream to snack on." Cream beamed and followed the pink hedgehog. Sonic turned to Tails and Knuckles.

"So, what do you guys wanna do first?" he asked. Knuckles shrugged.

"We might as well get pictures with the fans out of the way." Tails sighed.

"I hate that part." He groaned. "Little kids pull on my tails, and I can't smack them out of the way." Sonic laughed.

"Let's not have a rerun of last year," he chuckled. Tails stuck up an eyebrow and pointed at Sonic with the other hand on his hips.

"You laugh now, blue boy, but if you ever had a long tail instead of a little stub, you'd understand my pain." Knuckles pointed at his self.

"I remember that my step brother always pulled on my dreadlocks." Sonic slapped his knee.

"You shoulda been there, Tails!" he laughed. "It was when we went to Angel Island to run off the dingoes. Too bad you weren't there!" As the three friends shared a laugh, Shadow stared at them from behind a building.

He wished that he had friends to call his own. He would hardly call Rouge a "friend", but at least he could trust her, somewhat. Then he looked around curiously. It wasn't like Rouge not to show up in a place that would make her more popular and famous. Maybe she was around here somewhere. Maybe…

Cream skipped by Shadow licking an ice cream cone, unaware of the hedgehog's presence. Cheese was licking a cone as well. About two minutes later, Amy dashed by waving her head frantically.

"Cream!" she cried. "Cheese! Where are you?" Amy then turned her head to find Shadow leaning against the building.

"Shadow," she said. "Have you seen Cream or Cheese?" The black hedgehog nudged his head in the direction the two went.

"Cream went that way about two minutes ago." The pink hedgehog nodded gratefully then dashed off in the direction Shadow had told her.

"Smile, dear!" Tails smiled one of the fake "I'm trying to look like I'm having fun" looks at some lady's camera. A little kid posed with Tails, with his arm behind the fox's back. _Don't do it…_ Tails thought miserably. Suddenly, a pain shot through Tails' hind quarters. He yelped and stared menacingly at the boy, who was still holding the orange, fluffy tail.

"What did you do that for?!" the fox screamed. The little boy sniffled and started sobbing. The lady took him by the hand and walked away, trying to comfort him. Sonic, after posing with a teenager, turned to his friend, who was rubbing his back.

"Toddler trouble?" he asked. Tails nodded.

"Stupid kid…" he muttered. Knuckles joined them after a few more pictures.

"I'm ready for some grub," he smiled. "Wanna hit the hot dog stand?" After the three walked away, Shadow strode casually into the circle where photos were being taken. An 8-year-old pointed at Shadow and called

"I want his picture!" The hedgehog clutched his forehead as more kids crowded his legs. He was hungry, but people were already lining up.

_What do I care? _He thought suddenly. _I don't care if these people would go to Timbuktu and back to get my picture…I'm leaving._ But as he began to stride away, a little girl, hardly more than a baby, pulled on his tail with her little fingers.

Shadow stopped walking. A green aura surrounded him, coming from the green chaos emerald he had slipped up his glove. The black hedgehog turned around, and lifted his hand menacingly.

"Chaos Spear!" he cried. But before he could perform the attack, Tails raced up and grabbed his shoulder. Shadow stopped and turned to face the fox.

"Let's go get something to eat," he muttered, and led Shadow away from the people and to a food vendor that was serving chili dogs and lemonade.

Sonic and Knuckles were already chewing their chili dogs when the hedgehog and fox arrived. Shadow sat down on the stool while Tails went up to the vendor and said "Two, please." Sonic nudged Shadow, and was about to make a smart remark when Shadow put his hand to his mouth and stopped him.

"I'm on my last nerve hedgehog," he said. "One word out of you and you'll be left steaming with the power of a chaos emerald." Sonic did his "Adventure" smile and put his hand behind his head. Tails handed Shadow a chili dog and a cup of lemonade.

"Bon Apatite," he said. Amy then passed by the four.

"Has anyone seen Cream lately?" she asked frantically.

"Not since this morning," Shadow said. Amy looked around hurriedly again and ran off. Shadow stuck up an eyebrow. He hoped that the pink hedgehog hadn't been searching for Cream still. Knuckles rolled his eyes.

"Kids will be kids," he said. "At least _I _didn't run off when I was a kid." Sonic nudged him.

"Yeah," he said sarcastically. "'Cause Locke NEVER punished you as an echidna. I'm SURE that you had such a carefree life without ANY discipline at all…" Knuckle clutched his forehead.

"ALRIGHT!" he shouted. "I got in trouble a lot when I was a kid. Happy?" Tails yanked on both of their "spines".

"OW!" they cried. Tails put his hands on his hips.

"We came here to have a day of fun, not arguing. Stop fighting, or else you'll cause a riot or something." The two finished their lunch without a word. Shadow couldn't help smirking at the two. They were so alike, but they couldn't stop fighting to see that. Both so stubborn…

"I'm gonna go walk around a bit," Shadow informed his companions. "I'll meet you guys when the event is over." Sonic waved as the black hedgehog strode away. As Shadow was rounding a corner, though, he heard a familiar voice crying out.

"Help! Someone, help!" Cream's voice was coming form an alley that seemed a bit hidden from the rest of the street. Shadow rushed down it and expected a huge monster, or a giant robot. Instead, he was greeted to Cream and Cheese pushing vigorously on a door that read "BATHROOM".

"Mr. Shadow!" Cream cried. "The door's stuck, and I drank three glasses of fruit punch!" Shadow face-fell and glared angrily at Cream.

"That's IT?!" he shouted. Although he felt like letting the rabbit suffer, he decided to keep an eye on her until he could find Amy. With great ease, he pushed on the lightly rusted door and Cream rushed in. After she was finished, Shadow grabbed a hold of Cream's ear and Cheese's wing. After searching for five minutes, he found Amy and returned the kid.

"Cream!" Amy scolded. "Don't EVER run off again!" Cream bowed her head in shame and followed Amy to the photo-circle. Shadow sighed and shook his head. Kids.

"Hey, Shadow!" the black hedgehog turned around and noticed a familiar figure running towards him.

"Rouge!" he smiled. Rouge stopped and held on to Shadow's shoulder while she caught her breath.

"Being out in this hot sun can make even water thirsty," she panted. "C'mon, let's go get some lemonade, faker." Shadow smirked.

Then we can get photos, bat girl."

"Photos? Oh poo. Little kids pull on my wings."

"Eh…you'll get used to it."

THE END


End file.
